The latest calf birth registration data published by the Department of Agriculture for September 2024 shows that there were almost 80,000 fewer calves sired by dairy bulls for the first nine months of 2024. An analysis of figures shows the influence of increased adoption of sexed semen technologies.
The latest calf birth registration data published by the Department of Agriculture for September 2024 shows that there were almost 80,000 fewer calves sired by dairy bulls for the first nine months of 2024.
An analysis of figures shows the influence of increased adoption of sexed semen technologies.
As detailed in Table 1, there were 56,251 fewer dairy males, while the corresponding figure for females was 22,164 fewer births.
An analysis of beef sire usage quickly points to greater use of beef genetics in the dairy herd. There was 15,282 more calves sired to a beef bull in 2024 compared with 2023.
This is despite beef birth registrations to suckler cows running in the region of 45,000 head lower.
Breakdown
The breakdown of births is 70% of calves (1,526,729) registered to a beef sire and 30% to a dairy (655,525) sire.
The figures are flipped when looking at registrations to dam type. The latest Irish Cattle Breeding Federation data up to the week ending 25 October 2024 shows 1,549,995 calves born to a dairy dam, equating to 70% of total birth registrations of 2.2 million head, with beef births of 662,590 head obviously making up the remaining 30%.
Calf registrations are running 51,581 head lower than in 2024, with reduced births to beef dams accounting for the majority, with approximately 45,000 fewer birth registrations.
Dairy birth registrations are running below the previous year for the first time in almost a decade.
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